Creative Exercises: Linda Harrison and Summer Fullerton

Erin Lincoln

We are putting our new Hall of Famers to the test and challenging them to face their biggest self-confessed scrapbooking fears. You'll notice two things with our new Creative Exercises column. Not only do our talented winners have their own hang-ups when it comes to the paper and photos, but they often find that amazing things happen when you take the risk. See for yourself and then take the challenge.

Linda Harrison's Biggest Scrapbooking Hurdle

Stamping has been quite a challenge for me. I am very linear and exact on my pages and the thought of throwing that off by the accidental smudge or imperfect impression of a stamp scares me to death! That said, I have acquired more stamps in the past few months than ever and am working past my perfectionism so I can get more and more use out of them on my pages.

This was actually more challenging for me than I thought it was going to be. It took me forever to actually put the ink to my page. Once I did though, I was happy with the result. I wanted to 'cheat' and stamp only on cardstock first, then add the stamped cardstock image to my page so that I wouldn't have any risk of stamping 'wrong' directly on my page. But I took a leap of faith and stamped my image not only on my background cardstock, but across my photo as well. For the little journaling, I used a mini alphabet stamp and cut it into strips. I'm happy with how this layout turned out. Thanks for the challenge-it was a baby step, but I plan on progressing to bigger steps with my stamping.

Conquer Your Stamping Fears

Are you all wrapped up in making your pages perfect that you are letting all those pretty stamps go to waste like Linda? Here's some additional hints to help you break out of your rut.

Use a stamp positioner for perfect placement of your wood mounted stamps.

Test stamp on scratch paper to see how much pressure you need to apply.

Cut stamped images out of paper and adhere them to your layout like embellishments.

If you do accidentally smear your ink, decide to just go with it and distress the rest of your layout. The mistake now looks like you did it on purpose!

Summer Fullerton's Biggest Scrapbooking Hurdle

I don't ever journal by hand. I have been told many times I have beautiful handwriting, but every time I attempt to put it on a layout, I freeze. No matter how many times I write it out and trace over pencil lines the spacing and type are never visually appealing. The time it takes me to hand write my journaling, correct my mistakes and rewrite everything at least three times, I could have completed the layout with the computer. I realize the importance of using your own handwriting on a layout but I just cannot seem to get my handwriting to 'fit'. I have resorted to thinking my handwriting just really doesn't 'fit' my style of scrapbooking and that's okay.

Took a little bit of effort, but I got it done! There is quite a bit of journaling on the page - I couldn't just chicken out and gloss over the whole point of the exercise. To hand journal on this layout I didn't just write directly on the patterned paper. I wrote my journaling out on paper in pencil then I took a piece of a page protector (I am out of transparencies) and used my American Crafts Slick Writer pen to re-write my journaling on the page protector. For me, hand journaling is difficult on so many different levels - one is spacing and placement on the layout. Using the transparency allowed me to play around with journaling placement and spacing to get the layout design where I envisioned.

Another reason why I found using the page protector/transparency method easier was the surface was easy to write on. I have at least a 1/2 dozen black pens but I often find that I stumble if I try to hand journal on textured cardstock.

I thought I'd end up hating a layout with own handwriting, but I kind of like it. Writing on the transparency ended up being a key part of the process for me. By the third time I had written out my journaling it was flowing much easier. I can see how with practice scrapbookers are able to do pages with their own handwriting and work with spacing and handwriting consistency. I really enjoyed this challenge. I still see myself using the computer for most of my journaling needs—the process is so much faster for me this way. I have always told myself the importance of handwriting on scrapbook pages, and this exercise has inspired me to do this more often.

Conquer Your Handwriting Fears

More helpful hints to get your handwriting into your pages

Journaling stamps are an awesome solution and so trendy.

Using light colored paper? Place your layout over lined notebook paper on a light box and use the lines showing through as guides for placement.

Write in pencil first, go back over in ink.

Don't think too much about it. Just write it out with the same attention as you would a grocery list. If you concentrate too hard, you’ll get nervous and shaky results.

Keep your favorite pen nearby. It doesn't even have to be an scrapbook pen. If you use a fine tip Sharpie marker in your everyday life, then use in on your pages. All about the comfort.